Supergrass – their career in pictures

With news breaking this week that Supergrass are to split after their summer shows, we’re taking a look at their 17 years in the business. Keep clicking for the band’s history from 1993 onwards.

Credit: Press

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Danny, Gaz and Mick back in the heady pre-Britpop days. The band burst onto the scene in 1994 with their debut single ‘Caught By The Fuzz’, followed by debut album ‘I Should Coco’ in May 1995.

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Supergrass’ origins lie in a band called The Jennifers, in which Gaz sang and Danny played drums. They actually released one single, ‘Just Got Back Today’, on Mute before disbanding. Coombes then began working in a local Harvester restaurant, where he met Mick Quinn, and the rest is history.

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4/15

BRITS/SUPERGRASS

Supergrass pick up the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act in 1996. The band won a series of accolades across their career, including an NME Award for Best New Band in 1995 and two other Brits for Best Video (for ‘Late In The Day’ and ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’).

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5/15

Supergrass released a career-spanning best of in 2004 entitled ‘Supergrass Is 10’. Featuring all their big singles plus live tracks and an additional DVD, it was awarded a rare 10/10 in an NME review.

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6/15

Music – Glastonbury Fesival 1995

At the height of Supergrass’ fame Gaz Coombes received loads of modelling offers, most notably from Italian Vogue and Calvin Klein. However, he turned them down.

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7/15

A still from the video for 1999’s ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’, directed by Hammer & Tongs, who have also worked on Vampire Weekend’s ‘Cousins’ as well as promos for Eels, Pulp, and Robbie Williams.

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8/15

Supergrass’ debut album ‘I Should Coco’ sold a massive 990,000 copies worldwide, and was their only number one album. It was nominated for the 1995 Mercury Music Prize, but lost out to Portishead’s ‘Dummy’.

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9/15

Glastonbury Supergrass

Gaz Coombes back when he was rocking music’s biggest sideburns. The band’s second album, ‘In It For The Money’, dropped in 1997 and was labelled “more fun than watching a wombat in a washing machine” in an NME review.

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10/15

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Featuring ‘Richard III’, ‘Sun Hits The Sky’, ‘Going Out’ and ‘Late In The Day’, their second album was awarded 8/10 by NME but only reached number two in the charts.

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11/15

Supergrass Busking Outside The Royal Festival Hall – London

After a short hiatus, Supergrass returned with album number three, a self-titled effort that included the singles ‘Moving’ and ‘Pumping On Your Stereo’. Although a coherent effort, it lacked the verve of its predecessors and only made number three in the charts.

Credit: PA Photos

12/15

Music – Supergrass Feature

In recent years, Supergrass continued to release new records (‘Life On Other Planets’ in 2002, ‘Road To Rouen’ in 2005, and ‘Diamond Hoo Ha’ in 2008) before ending their contract with EMI.

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13/15

Supergrass in concert – London

The band have one more album for the world, ‘Release The Drones’, which will hopefully see the light of day this year via an independent release. Keep an eye on the NME news section for the latest updates.

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14/15

Musicians Busk For Crisis Charity – Southbank

Supergrass played together for 17 illustrious years. The members will continue making music with a final album due for release at some point soon, and side project The Hot Rats going strong.

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For the latest news on Supergrass keep an eye on our news section, and head over to the blogs to share your memories of the band now.